~ Genealogy, History, and whatever else crosses my mind

Why would he do that?

I’m a bit of a stickler about grammar. I cringe when I see things like “Its snowing now” or “Their going to the movies.” Similarly, it bothers me when I read especially bad sentences.

In yesterday’s Columbus Dispatch, there was a short article about a man who was charged with negligence in the death of his daughter in a car accident last year. The sentence read:
“He was charged with failure to restrain his unbelted 12-year-old daughter, Jessica, after she died in a Feb. 22 crash in which another vehicle slid across the center line and struck his van on an icy Rt. 22.”

I know that is not what the reporter intended to say. (At least, I hope that’s not what the reporter intended to say!) Why would the man restrain his daughter after she died?

The incident was a tragedy and I don’t mean to sound flippant. But that sentence is so poorly constructed that it has bothered me ever since I read it yesterday. I think I need to turn “editor mode” off every now and then.

I’m a stickler for correct spelling & grammar too! I wanted to be an English teacher way back when I was in high school. Once I received a letter from a physician’s office with so many spelling, punctuation & grammatical errors that I wanted to mark it up and send it back!

Thank you — I knew there had to be more people like me! (Though maybe I should be alarmed for all of us )

A few years ago, I was on vacation with my family. We were walking down the street and saw a sign posted in a restaurant window: “Breakfast Special — Belgium Waffles.” I wondered aloud if they serve “France Fries” at lunch. My daughter (who was 12 at the time) just rolled her eyes and said, “Mom, you’re on vacation. You don’t have to edit *everything*.” :-)

I imagine if my profession was a writer, I would be a stickler for grammer also. As it is, when I see errors just as those that you have pointed out, I just think “this person didn’t have a very good English teacher!”

I chose you for the Kreativ Blogger Award! You can check it out on my post “I Am So Honored” at Heritage Happens,